Railway-joint



c. 1. 'STARKS.

RAILWAY JOINT.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. l0. 1919- 1,331,396. Patented Feb.17,192o.

L?. v /f LQ a 7 7 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHRISTIAN J'. STARKS, OF CLOUIIERVILLE, LOUISIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T0 WILLIAM A. BROWNLEE, OF COLFAX, LOUISIANA.

RAILWAY-JOINT.

T o all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHRISTIAN J. STARKs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cloutierville, in the parish of Natchitoches and State of Louisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Joints; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the saine.

This invention relates to railway joints, and it relates more particularly to an iniproved railway joint in which the joined rail ends are of counterpart construction.

One of the objects of the invention, therefore, is to provide improved rails of counterpart construction, so that the rail ends are interchangeable with relation to other rail ends of similar construction, and to obtain the maximum strength and rigidity consistent with the greatest simplicity of construction.

Another object is to provide a rail joint of improved construction in which the rail `ends are interlocked so that they are not likely to become disjoined in case one or more of the joint-bolts become broken or disengaged.

Another obj ect is to provide a rail joint in which the web portions are recessed to receive the bolt heads, thereby minimizing the probability of the bolts being sheared by the wheels of a derailed car or engine.

Other objects and advantages may become apparent to persons who read the following details of description in connection with the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved rail joint.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view through the bolt-holes.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view along the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view along the line 5-5 of Fig. 2. v

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view along the line 6-6 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is a top plan view showing the rail ends partly broken away and being separated from one another.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of one of the rail ends.

Referring to these drawings in detail in Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 17, 1920.

Serial No. 276,094.

which similar reference characters correspond with similar parts throughout the several views, my improved railway joint consists of two rail ends 7 of counterpart construction, three bolts 8 and three nuts 9, washers 10 being employed when desirable. These rail ends being of counterpart construction, a description of one will suffice for both..

Each rail end 7 comprises a thickened web portion 11 which is substantially as thick as the horizontal extent or width of the rail head 12. Extending from thethickened web portion 11 to the extreme end of the rail is a web extension 13, the same being formed with a vertical inner surface 14 which coincides with the longitudinal center of the rail.

Each rail end is formed with vertical surfaces 19 which extend diagonally through the head and base and across the middle part of the web extension 13 and terminate at the extreme end 17. This construction provides a recess 20 between the rail head and rail base, this recess being of a size and shape to receive the outer end portion of the web extension of the companion rail. The outer end portion of the web extension 13 is formed with downwardly inclined upper and lower surfaces 21 and 22 respectively which terminate at the vertical surface 14e. The lower surface of the recess 2O is upwardly and downwardly inclined at 23 in proportion to the inclination of the surface 22, so that the rail ends interlock with one another when they are fitted together as shown in Figs. 1 to 5 in the drawings.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the rail ends would not become disjoined even if they were not bolted together, but for the sake of perfect security the bolts 8 and nuts 9 are secured through the apertures 24 which are sutliciently large to allow for longitudinal expansion and contraction of the rails. In order to properly seat the bolts 8, washers 10 and nuts 9, in view of the diagonal surfaces 19, I provide recesses 25 each of which has a vertical surface 26 extending parallel with the vertical surfaces 19, and the holes 24 are preferably at right angles to the surfaces 26 so that the bolt head and washer may it snugly on these surfaces or fastener seats 26, the bolts 8 extending diagonally through the web extensions or at right angles to said fastener seats.

In the operation of interlocking two'rail ends ofY this construction, they are first placed iiralinenient and have the outer ends,V

of their vertical surfacesl in Contact with,v one another; and f they are thenV moved longitudinally toward oneV *another so that ltliegsurface 22 of eachrail end slides on the surface 23 of the other rail end, until the the extreme endlV of each Y ,extensions will bedirected into theY respecvtive recesses 20, this action being permitted Y- bythe inclined andcurved upper surfaces Y 1 2l and the relatively large holes 24 through `which the relatively small bolt extends.-

, 'Although I'have described this embodiinent'ofv my invention very specifically, it is not'inten'ded to limit Vthis invention to these 'fe'x'act [details of construction and arrangelment'of parts, but I am .entitled to make changes Ywithin the scopeV of the inventive idea disclosed intheforegoing description Y and :following claims.

Ik claim: Y. Y

1. 'A rail joint comprising the joined. ends 'of' two railway rails, each `of saidjends'being formed with a web portion substantially as thick as the horizontal width of the rails "head, and a web extension substantially half g as thick as the horizontal width .of the rails c vertical surface extending substantially in a ,plane coinciding withithe longitudinal'center of the rail, the head and base fange ofV each railend being `formed respectively with a vertical surface extending diagonally across said inner vertical surface, each of said-.web extensions having recessesformed in-Vits outer vertical surface, each of saidY recesses having a Vvertical surface vparallel head each-web extension Vhaving an inner with said diagonallyextending surfaces,`V

each of said yweb extensions having Vapertures extending therethrough and communieating with said recesses, andbolts extending diagonally throughy Vsaid aperturesy of said joined ends at right angles to said dia- V goiially extending surfaces.v Y y 2; A railV oint vcomprising the joined endsY "of-two railway rails, each of said-ends being -formed with a web portion substantially as thick as the horizontal width of 'the rails head, and a web extension substantiallyhalf as thick as the horizontal width ofthe rails head, each web extension having Van inner vertical surface extending' substantially in aV plane coinciding with the longitudinal center of the-rail, the head and base flange of each rail end being-formed respectively: with vertical surfaces extending diagonally across said inner vertical surface, the outer end' ofv each web extension having upperand lower Vsurfaces downwardlyY inclined toward said inner vertical surface, each rail end being {forined with 'a recess of ak shape to receive and conform tothe said vertical'and upper and lower Vsurfaces of the web extension-of the companion rail end. Y

' In testimony whereof VI have hereunto set my hand.

- CHRISTIANJ; STARKS. V 

